You might ask your god who he is when you pray. And study. Study, study, study. Paganism isn't for wimps in the learning field. Constant study helps us refine what we believe. Overall, I would say you are you. That is how most pagans roll. Mostly, we take what works for us and leave the rest. A handful can point to a specific system or trad and say "that's me." But most of us just are us. And nothing is wrong with either way. What is important is you stay true to yourself.

I appreciate your reply, thank you. :-) I am all about studying at the moment. I keep trying to feel if I'm drawn to any particular pantheon, as a starting point. I did have a questionable experience several years ago, but the story is quite wordy and not appropriate for this thread. Anyway, thanks again!

Hope everyone is having a good day!

Ah. Based on your original post, I thought maybe you were simply drawn to one god, rather than an entire pantheon. I may have misunderstood.

Dark Energy. It can be found in the observable Universe. Found in ratios of 75% more than any other substance. Dark Energy. It can be found in religious extremists, in cheerleaders. To come to the conclusion that Dark signifies mean and malevolent would define 75% of the Universe as an evil force. Alternatively, to think that some cheerleaders don't have razors in their snatch is to be foolishly unarmed.

Ah. Based on your original post, I thought maybe you were simply drawn to one god, rather than an entire pantheon. I may have misunderstood.

[/quote]

Oh, no, you aren't confused (it's very likely that it's me who is). I believe there is a specific, singular diety that I relate to. But there are so many gods out there, I'm trying to narrow down the search by eliminating irrelevant (unsure if that's the correct word) pantheons. I suppose it could be plausible that my deity isn't related to any particular culture or religion currently existing? I don't know. I've only recently started to feel it was important to find a "religion" or framework in which to operate.

I'm really quite new to the whole idea of Paganism, so please forgive me for not knowing much about it. I have done a lot of research, but as there are many different forms of Paganism (at least it seems that way..) I'm not too sure what I would be classified as.. Any chance of any help? :)

Up until recently I have always thought myself a Christian, having being brought up that way and never really considering any other religion, but when I started to think about it; I realised that I disagreed with the power and greed so often seen within Christianity, also with the way that worshippers are actively dissuaded from thinking of another path, and are even threatened with 'Hell' (which I never believed in anyway..). I believe that it should at least be the peoples choice as to who and what they worship, and Christianity does not allow that.. even now that I have decided what I now believe in, I still get a little jolt in my stomach whenever I think about it.. I also disagree with the repression of women and the way that the Church prosecuted other religions, especially when many Pagans were proclaimed 'evil witches' and brutally killed. (not that there is anything wrong with witches of course, but they were often considered a threat and were so 'dealt with')

Looking to Paganism I discovered that the idea of love is so much more prominent, people actively seem to enjoy worshipping or just following the religion.. In Christianity, you make yourself feel awful by discussing your sins (not that you shouldnt feel bad if you've done something bad, but I dont think it is up to the Church to decide you are forgiven, you have to accept that you have done wrong and then right it yourself, in which case there is no need for any self-hatred or whatnot). Christians also tend to just say 'empty prayers' where they repeat the same thing over and over with no real thought to what it means or why they say it, or maybe even that 'God' has gotten bored of hearing it.

One thing that really touched me was the idea of a Goddess, I have never really thought about it, but now I do, it seems right somehow, the idea of a motherly love, rather than a distant ruler.. also the fact that many pictures or statues of the 'Goddess' (I dont know her name) are of her cradling the earth and expressing love.. something you never tend to see in Christianity, you just see a man in pain on the cross in order to remind you of suffering. Also in Christianity it is considered a sin to worship a statue, but I think its more that you are showing your respect, gratitude and love through something that represents the being that you are actually worshipping.

Anyway, my main beliefs are;

1) The idea of a spiritual energy that connects everything, whether living or not, and is basically the 'Universal Spirit', but that within each thing there is another part that makes it them, that makes you yourself, and the idea of 'worship' is to keep the part of you that is yourself as close to the part that is the Spirit as possible.

2) I think that possibly the Universal Spirit might be a Goddess, or maybe just represented by one, or maybe that it is just easier for me to think of it as a Goddess as it makes it more personal somehow and easier to talk to.

3) I personally dont think that I believe particularly in any other deities (perhaps because im so used to having one?) but i do believe in respecting and sort of worshipping everything, as it is all connected to and a part of the Great Mother, and so to respect, honor and worship everything is to respect, honor and worship her. And I think that maybe you could think of each thing being or being represented by a deity in their own right, as that would be the part of them that makes them 'them', so for example the night (Nyx? Am I right, I think thats her name) could be worshipped on its own and called Nyx as its own deity; and the part that was Nyx would be the part that made night what it is, 'night' and distinguished it from everything else.. but that it is still a part of 'The Whole' as part of its energy is part of The Universal Spirit (if that makes sense? probably doesnt haha)

4) I dont know if I believe in Karma, but I do believe that if you've done bad, you should be graceful when bad comes your way and not complain too much; because you would sorta deserve it, and maybe the deserving is a kind of karma?

5) I dont believe in magick, but I do believe that by working in harmony with nature and therefore the energy, you could perhaps influence things, but more in a scientific way sorta (im not too sure about all this yet but I know I dont believe in tarot or ouija or things like that..). I do believe that grounding yourself through meditation, yoga, prayer or worship is a healthy way of keeping yourself connected to the energy.

6) I think that when you die (not sure about rebirths, but I mean when you are completely at the end), you become one with the Spirit, and so with everything, but as you still have the part of you that is you, you would experience the wonder that it must be to truly be apart of everything, every raindrop, every flower, every animal etc. I dont believe that heaven is a seperate place, I believe that the Earth is our heaven, and it will take dying to truly show us that, as we would see all the beauty and be all the beauty (which is another reason you should respect/worship the Earth and be very annoyed when people trash it). I think that there is no judgement other than yourself, so if you had done bad and then died and realised how amazing it is, you would feel more than a little guilty. I also think that the only think you truly take with you is love, so the amount of love you get to take depends on the amount that surrounded your life; which is why those who dont have any will be kicking themselves (the more you give the more you have).

I think thats it.. So.. What am I?

ps.. if youre reading this.. well done for reaching the end! and thankyou! xx

I'm really quite new to the whole idea of Paganism, so please forgive me for not knowing much about it. I have done a lot of research, but as there are many different forms of Paganism (at least it seems that way..) I'm not too sure what I would be classified as.. Any chance of any help? :)

Up until recently I have always thought myself a Christian, having being brought up that way and never really considering any other religion, but when I started to think about it; I realised that I disagreed with the power and greed so often seen within Christianity, also with the way that worshippers are actively dissuaded from thinking of another path, and are even threatened with 'Hell' (which I never believed in anyway..). I believe that it should at least be the peoples choice as to who and what they worship, and Christianity does not allow that.. even now that I have decided what I now believe in, I still get a little jolt in my stomach whenever I think about it.. I also disagree with the repression of women and the way that the Church prosecuted other religions, especially when many Pagans were proclaimed 'evil witches' and brutally killed. (not that there is anything wrong with witches of course, but they were often considered a threat and were so 'dealt with')

Looking to Paganism I discovered that the idea of love is so much more prominent, people actively seem to enjoy worshipping or just following the religion.. In Christianity, you make yourself feel awful by discussing your sins (not that you shouldnt feel bad if you've done something bad, but I dont think it is up to the Church to decide you are forgiven, you have to accept that you have done wrong and then right it yourself, in which case there is no need for any self-hatred or whatnot). Christians also tend to just say 'empty prayers' where they repeat the same thing over and over with no real thought to what it means or why they say it, or maybe even that 'God' has gotten bored of hearing it.

One thing that really touched me was the idea of a Goddess, I have never really thought about it, but now I do, it seems right somehow, the idea of a motherly love, rather than a distant ruler.. also the fact that many pictures or statues of the 'Goddess' (I dont know her name) are of her cradling the earth and expressing love.. something you never tend to see in Christianity, you just see a man in pain on the cross in order to remind you of suffering. Also in Christianity it is considered a sin to worship a statue, but I think its more that you are showing your respect, gratitude and love through something that represents the being that you are actually worshipping.

Anyway, my main beliefs are;

1) The idea of a spiritual energy that connects everything, whether living or not, and is basically the 'Universal Spirit', but that within each thing there is another part that makes it them, that makes you yourself, and the idea of 'worship' is to keep the part of you that is yourself as close to the part that is the Spirit as possible.

2) I think that possibly the Universal Spirit might be a Goddess, or maybe just represented by one, or maybe that it is just easier for me to think of it as a Goddess as it makes it more personal somehow and easier to talk to.

3) I personally dont think that I believe particularly in any other deities (perhaps because im so used to having one?) but i do believe in respecting and sort of worshipping everything, as it is all connected to and a part of the Great Mother, and so to respect, honor and worship everything is to respect, honor and worship her. And I think that maybe you could think of each thing being or being represented by a deity in their own right, as that would be the part of them that makes them 'them', so for example the night (Nyx? Am I right, I think thats her name) could be worshipped on its own and called Nyx as its own deity; and the part that was Nyx would be the part that made night what it is, 'night' and distinguished it from everything else.. but that it is still a part of 'The Whole' as part of its energy is part of The Universal Spirit (if that makes sense? probably doesnt haha)

4) I dont know if I believe in Karma, but I do believe that if you've done bad, you should be graceful when bad comes your way and not complain too much; because you would sorta deserve it, and maybe the deserving is a kind of karma?

5) I dont believe in magick, but I do believe that by working in harmony with nature and therefore the energy, you could perhaps influence things, but more in a scientific way sorta (im not too sure about all this yet but I know I dont believe in tarot or ouija or things like that..). I do believe that grounding yourself through meditation, yoga, prayer or worship is a healthy way of keeping yourself connected to the energy.

6) I think that when you die (not sure about rebirths, but I mean when you are completely at the end), you become one with the Spirit, and so with everything, but as you still have the part of you that is you, you would experience the wonder that it must be to truly be apart of everything, every raindrop, every flower, every animal etc. I dont believe that heaven is a seperate place, I believe that the Earth is our heaven, and it will take dying to truly show us that, as we would see all the beauty and be all the beauty (which is another reason you should respect/worship the Earth and be very annoyed when people trash it). I think that there is no judgement other than yourself, so if you had done bad and then died and realised how amazing it is, you would feel more than a little guilty. I also think that the only think you truly take with you is love, so the amount of love you get to take depends on the amount that surrounded your life; which is why those who dont have any will be kicking themselves (the more you give the more you have).

I think thats it.. So.. What am I?

ps.. if youre reading this.. well done for reaching the end! and thankyou! xx

Okay, I hate it when people ask me what they are. Hate it, hate it, hate it. The only person who can tell you what you are is you. So I am going to copy a post I made a few minutes ago for someone else. It applies to everyone, and I hope it can help you. Even if it is a fairly large pain in the rear.

Get a notebook. It probably will need to be big. Write down everything you believe. And I do mean everything. You believe that asparagus is the most disgusting thing ever, and should be banned from market shelves, then write it down. Carry the notebook around with you everywhere you go. At least three months, but probably longer. After three months, it will probably feel weird not to have it. Read everything. You disagree with the author? Write it down. Write down why. A book is too bad for you to finish? I have been there. Write it down. Write down what the author could have done to make their book readible.

The point is, you have to become incredibly narcissistic, at least where your notebook is concerned. You have to write down everything that you need to, to understand you.

If you need help getting started with this notebook, I would recommend listening to the Scrying Bowl, scryingbowl.libsyn.com/

5 minute podcasts where Oraia Sphinx gives a topic and lets you figure out what you think about said topic. Very valuable, to me, anyway, when it comes to topics I wouldn't have thought of.

Anyway, this is a good way to figure out who you are. It won't give you a label, but it wil give you an idea of who is lurking in your brain.

See? Pain in the butt. But it works.

Dark Energy. It can be found in the observable Universe. Found in ratios of 75% more than any other substance. Dark Energy. It can be found in religious extremists, in cheerleaders. To come to the conclusion that Dark signifies mean and malevolent would define 75% of the Universe as an evil force. Alternatively, to think that some cheerleaders don't have razors in their snatch is to be foolishly unarmed.

I was born and raised a Roman Catholic. A few events occured in my lifetime (won't go into detail because that would be another post entirely by itself) that forced me to reconsider my beliefs as a Catholic, and thus look to other religions to see if something else fit. Even when I was a devout Catholic, I still liked to learn about other religions as to better my world view and better understand those who were different from me.

In the last nine months or so, I committed myself to learning about Paganism, in all its forms, as much as I possibly could. I felt drawn to it before, but wanted to make sure that it was the spiritual path that I wanted to follow. After what I deemed sufficient research, I decided to call myself an eclectic Pagan. I draw not only from various Pagan paths (including Wicca, green witchcraft, domestic witchcraft, ancient Celtic spirituality, and ancient Canaanite spirituality) but also Unitarian Universalism and Christianity. Someone mentioned in an earlier post that they believe that all religions have some validity, that there is no one right path, and that they will incorporate things from other faith paths if they like it. I agree with them and I do the same thing. Call me what you will, but I am comfortable, happy and confident in my newly found spiritual path. Granted I still have much to learn, but that's one of the great things about Paganism as a whole, there is always room to grow and to learn.

Well, I'm still undecided about a lot of things about my faith, but the path that's drawn me the most has indeed been Paganism, so that is what I consider myself to be nowadays, even if my path forward into it is unclear. I still haven't researched fully into the whole wide world that the single term "Paganism" holds, but it seems to agree with the beliefs that I have.

I was raised as a Catholic, but I don't feel any real connection to the Church, nor have I ever really had one, now that I look back. I don't believe in my mind or heart anything that I've learnt about them and from them, even if their message is good. I really want to find what I am in a spiritual sense, so I'm still going to research. Has anyone found something that would be of good use to someone who is still researching? Like a site, or forums like these, or even sections and articles here in beliefnet that I haven't yet seen. It would be a huge help.

I'm not sure if it would be included under the umbrella of Paganism, but I was led there through my research about the topic, and the path that I enjoy the sound of most so far has been in the style of Ancient Greek mythology, with the Greek gods and their stories connecting them to the world, which I've always enjoyed even when I was young.

Well, I'm still undecided about a lot of things about my faith, but the path that's drawn me the most has indeed been Paganism, so that is what I consider myself to be nowadays, even if my path forward into it is unclear. I still haven't researched fully into the whole wide world that the single term "Paganism" holds, but it seems to agree with the beliefs that I have.

I was raised as a Catholic, but I don't feel any real connection to the Church, nor have I ever really had one, now that I look back. I don't believe in my mind or heart anything that I've learnt about them and from them, even if their message is good. I really want to find what I am in a spiritual sense, so I'm still going to research. Has anyone found something that would be of good use to someone who is still researching? Like a site, or forums like these, or even sections and articles here in beliefnet that I haven't yet seen. It would be a huge help.

I'm not sure if it would be included under the umbrella of Paganism, but I was led there through my research about the topic, and the path that I enjoy the sound of most so far has been in the style of Ancient Greek mythology, with the Greek gods and their stories connecting them to the world, which I've always enjoyed even when I was young.

I am sort of similar. I was also born and raised Catholic, but once I reached college I began to question things and I don't feel a connection to the Church or Christianity in general. I did some research on paganism and all the groups under it. I identified with the term, but just call myself pagan. I don't have all the fancy bells and whistles because I can't afford them or have the space, so when I do something here online with my online school I'll improvise. I've been told that all you need is yourself and that's cool with me. I really don't think about it, its just a part of me.

actualy i'm not sure if i am an pagan. i am having some doubts about my religion lately. therefore i've been searching for a story which i can relate to. i am as you call it in my language "zoekende", that is "searching" in english. it's a term we use for people who are shure they there is something. they have a certain idea of what this might be. but they are looking for a way to get in contact with it. i have an christian background, so that will explain why i choose certain words.

ok, so my am i posting in this topic? well, since i have been searching for a while i thoughed that i would do good giving your religion a try. some of my friends are pagan themselves, and to me it always gave an to good to be true image. this was because it seemed a little fairytailish, and because the singer of a band i am fan of, omnia, made it seem very messed up. but i talked to them about religion, and it got me prety intrested prety intrested.

so, now to the main subject. i would like to know if paganism is a religion that would match my ideas. i see God more like the Holy Spirit. by this i mean some sort of energy that is diveded in to groups.

one halve piece is the higher nature which is every where around us. it sometimes takes visual forms, like angels and nature spirits. the layer where this is thicker you can feel it's actual presence, youcan also thiken this layer with a riual or meating. the other is ripped up in small piece, which would be the souls. these soul are in all organims and things like rivers and mountains.

one thing in which i am sure that it won't match with paganism is that i berlieve in christ, and the rastafarian zion-babylon-thing...